Top-ranked Roger Federer won his first match after a three-week injury layoff, but some of his main challengers at the Hamburg Masters left the tournament on Monday.
Second-seeded Andy Roddick was upset in the opening round by Nicolas Massu of Chile 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5; Rafael Nadal — the ATP Tour’s hottest player — pulled out; and seventh-seeded Carlos Moya withdrew, citing a right shoulder injury.
Roddick trailed 5-3 in the final set before pulling even at 5-5, only to lose the last two games against the Olympic champion, hitting a drop shot wide on Massu’s match point.
”It was questionable, it’s not my favourite shot,” Roddick said. ”First, it’s disappointing; second, you are going to have bad days if you choose this profession.
”I take comfort that I have more good days than bad days. I am not just going to give up on clay for the year.”
Nadal battled for more than five hours on Sunday to capture the Rome Masters from Guillermo Coria, and said he had aggravated a blister on his left hand.
”It’s a blister I got in the quarterfinals in Rome and now it’s a cut,” Nadal said. ”I couldn’t risk making it worse, although I really wanted to play here.”
The Spanish teenager, riding a 17-match winning streak, could have become the first player to win all three clay-court Masters Series titles after also winning in Monte Carlo last month.
But a rest will give Nadal ample time to prepare for his inaugural French Open, which starts in two weeks.
Federer won 6-4, 6-3 against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, who had beaten Roddick in the third round at Rome.
Federer last played in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, where he lost to Richard Gasquet, only his second defeat of the season. He then took a break because of inflammation in both feet.
”The feet are well, I don’t know if they are 100%, we’ll see after a few tough matches,” Federer said.
Looking rusty in the opening games, Federer soon found his rhythm on a cool and wet afternoon. The longer the rallies, the steadier Federer played against Verdasco.
The defending champion broke Verdasco’s serve to win the first set and broke serve again for a decisive 5-3 lead in the second.
”I tried to concentrate a bit more at the end of each set,” Federer said. ”The conditions were slow and I was worried going into the match.
”He’s a good player and a lefty, and I haven’t been playing, only practising. I knew that if I lose I wouldn’t have another match until the French Open.”
Federer also won the Hamburg Masters in 2002. The €2 082 500 clay-court tournament is a major warm-up for the French Open.
”You want to play well at the French, but I am the defending champion here and I want to do well here as well.”
The French Open is the only major Federer has not won, and he said the three-week break may have done him well.
”I was exhausted, my feet were hurting and now I am fresh, that’s important,” he said. ”I’ve been playing a lot this year, so I needed to save some energy. I was happy to be home.”
Federer has a 36-2 record this season, with five titles. His other loss was to Marat Safin in the Australian Open semifinals.
Gustavo Kuerten, the Hamburg winner in 2000 and three-time French Open champion, scored an impressive 6-2, 6-1 victory over Andrei Pavel. Kuerten had hip surgery in September and returned last month.
Kuerten said he is looking forward to the French Open — next year. This year will be too soon to expect any great run, he said.
”I have a lot more to do, but with every match I feel more comfortable,” Kuerten said. ”I am getting better every week.”
Fifth-seeded Tim Henman beat Lars Burgsmuller of Germany 6-3, 6-4, and number 11 Joachim Johansson became the first seeded player to exit, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Sebastien Grosjean of France.
Also, number 13 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia defeated Luis Horna of Peru 6-3, 6-3, number 14 Tommy Robredo rallied to beat Germany’s Alexander Waske 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, number 16 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic topped Cyril Saulnier of France 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina defeated Thomas Johansson of Sweden 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Gasquet advanced when Ivo Karlovic of Croatia retired in the second set with a right shoulder injury. Gasquet was leading 6-1, 1-0.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mario Ancic, Mikhail Youzhny, Greg Rusedski, Nicolas Kiefer and Christophe Rochus also advanced to the second round. — Sapa-AP